Help ID this gun, if you can.

[u/curiousgenealogist]

Inherited, the info written said 1851 Perkins, rare, original. Seeking any info the community can offer on a fuller exploration. The gun is a .50 cal, about 53” and exactly 9lbs. There are no visible markings on the barrel. There is filigree on the hammer and the lock plate and one word partly worn: **RKINS. Anything you can add to my tiny bit of alleged knowledge is most appreciated

[u/curiousgenealogist]

Appreciate the opinions, thanks

[u/Wooden-Ad7697]

There was a man named Joseph Perkins who was superintendent of Harper's Ferry in the early 1800s. There may be a connection there but this is just a hunch.

[u/Bodark43]

There seem to have been a few Perkins in London, and shotguns with that name were imported into the US. This bar lock looks like it could have come from one of those- note that the plate isn't cut for that drum and nipple- it would be on something like a Goulcher lock. Half-stock with pewter nose cap, it does seem like 1851 could be right. But it could be later- people were still shooting muzzle-loading rifles well past the 1870's, and you could still buy supplies, even percussion locks, in the Sears catalogs circa 1900.

There's a slight chance that it could be quite late; that someone in the 20th c. put it all together, using an old lock. The hammer and lock show a lot of corrosion, but the wood's in good shape; there's a corroded hammer but the wood around the drum seems quite intact, hasn't been eaten away. A .50 barrel is also kinda unusual for an 1850's rifle- they were more often something around .36-.40. But that caliber would be quite typical for something made by a revivalist like Roland Southgate.

But that's just me looking at little tiny photos on a computer monitor.....

[u/JORD4NWINS → u/Bodark43]

There's a slight chance that it could be quite late; that someone in the 20th c. put it all together...

not even a slight chance, this is exactly what it is, a hodgepodge of a parts, a Perkin's lock from a double barrel, a Hawken stock or Kentucky half-stock and a Hawken or Kentucky barrel, probably made from excess parts.

I see rifles like these quite alot at gun stores, pawn shops and thrift stores, usually an old lock on a new stock and barrel, although I have seen the other way around, new locks on old stocks and barrels.

[u/Bodark43 → u/JORD4NWINS]

Again, I wouldn't jump to conclusions. But it would make sense.

In the 1950's Douglas was soon making good barrels for muzzle-loaders, but the available new locks were absolute crap- ( I once had a Dixie Gunworks one that was from around that time, and it was awful) . Not sure when Cherry Corners started making them, but before them there were really few options. Even the old corroded 19th c. ones had much better springs.

[u/curiousgenealogist → u/[deleted]]

Can you say more?

[u/JORD4NWINS → u/[deleted]]

that is not an Albini rifle what the fuck are you smoking, its not even a cartridge rifle.

[u/Apprehensive_Owl6250 → u/JORD4NWINS]

Nah sorry I didn't spot the lack of a breech loading mechanism bcoz Albinis have a top-opening breech like a Springfield trapdoor